Ekphrastic Poetry Contest 2013

Ylisse joell Yepez

Honorable Mention

I am not what I am

I am not what I am:
Polished coal.
Jealous jewels of splendid night.
Do not become absorbed in my emptiness-
Tethered to outer space like
Neolithic nightmares.
Take no notice of my form-
Opaque oppression, etched with a thousand years born of enmity onto the surface of
my soul.

I am not what I am:
Layers of cold lace;
Black on black
On black;
The small heart of man framed by wayward ravens
Made beautiful by negative space.

I am not what I am:
Evil and elegant.
Do not enter without an offering-
For, we are
Stamped with the secrets of our ancestors-
Mourning the magic of everyman,
“Chaos is come again”.